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This Proof is sent to you for discussion only, and on the express understanding that it is not to be used for any other purpose whatsoever.— (^.v .s( War fur his :n,..mv=.l The treacherous nnttirc of the Missouri " bottom," toi^othor with co slant chuiit:('s wliieli occur in the channel, rendered it iitetssiry that the j)iers i^houhl hi' ]il:ieed on tlie bed rock, and that the lownes-^ of the 1) mka wettled the question ol' a hiuli or low hridj^c, in favor of the latter. The masonry of the brid-;e. as built, consists of one small abutment on east bank, and five river piers ;• the former placi'd on the top of the bank and founded at a depth of 3 feet below the natural surface • the five hitter piers built ujion inverted caissons, and sunk, during buildinj^, to bed rock, at a depth ol'45 ft. to 48-ft. Selow ordinary water (low). The superstructure is of wrouizhr iron, of the form known as the " Pratt Truss," and carries a " through ' sinule line of J{. R. track and carriage way combined, at a level of 12 feet above the hitihest water or of 80 feet above bed rock. The spans are as fbiff)ws : Eacli shore |span, 80-ft. from cetitro to ce'itre of piers ; pivot draw- span, 304 feet over all, giving two openings (.f IGO feet each. Three Fixed s]»ans, .']0(l lect centre n> centre of piers. From tbe aTjove descrii)tion of the bridge, it is seen that the total width of the natural channel .-it low water, i;^ only 350 feet; and the whole of this channel is covered by the 3ii4 feet draw-span ; the pivot pier being placed exactly in the centre of the low water channel, a clear opening of 160 ieet is given, on either side, for the pussaue of vessels. It is evident, th( refore, that in order to preserve uninterrupted navi- gation of tlie river, the low water channel must be controlled, and com. pelled to run througli the draw span ; the high water channel must also be watched, and uieans taken to ])revent a cut-off or any serious change tiikitig place. This involves the supervisioii of the river for some nnles above the bridge. Ivpuil care is not required below the bridge, where only at one point, ciMi, any danger be anticipated. , This would occur, only in case of the neck of the main '' bend," at a distance of 3 J miles below the sidge being gradually cut away; an occurrence to be appre- hended only in the distant future. The accompanying map shews a portion of the -Missouri River, sur- veyed in connection with tlie bridge works proper, as well as with the work for the diversion and controlling of the river in the vicinity of the bridge. The h'ngth of the river surveyed was in all, about lU miles, com- prising one compiete •' bend," representing the general character of this river for a great portion of its length. The river at this point runs through a valley of from four to six miles in width, enclosed by ranges of bluffs or rolling, knolly hillsides of from seventy-five to two hundred feet in height above the river water. The bluffs on the Missouri bank are coinptosed of stiff clay, wdiile on the Kansas bank, rock crops out at Belmont and \Vathena. The clay banks, when excavated and exposed to the weather, stand for a long time with little chainge ; this was instanced in St. Joseph, in 1871-73, where many streets, were graded down to a depth of 30 to 40 feet, while the lots, with houses built upon them, were left standing, the only means of access to and from the street, being by stairways placed in very nearly vertical position in front of each house. The nature of these clay bluf*' is such that they are affected but At low water the discharge is very imich rcJiicetl (the proportion be- tween high water ami low water Ijeini; about as 11: 1), and runs in a channel or eliiiiuiels eontintd jj^oncrally within the hii:;h water bmks, lueanderint; about and cutting out its course iti a variftv i six to nine fit. The river c(»ntinues rising durinit East bar Same, sliakeu . . . . 07 64 81^ 86 97 97 109i lo;u ml P.3"cb lbs. oz. 15v w 1 21 1 '^■fc Drifting sand from East bar 94 Same, shaken down ! 108 1 0}^ 1 1 4-^ 1 U 1 4 1 8i 1 ^ 1 9^ 1 ^ 1 11 The sediment carried in susjiension in the river was examined and was tbund to consist cliietly of .sand in tlie following (quantities taken from different localities. Amount of water in all cases was a gallon. Weights. Weigiit per cub. In. • Filtrate. Filter. Sediment. Loose. Pressed. Remarks. £. mill'g 47-360 21-160 40-600 43-400 g. mill'g. 15-200 7-250 15-25 7-700 1 « 4 2 « X 6- g. niiU'g. 32-160 19-900 25-350 35-90C 108 -3111= 2324_G-49 S- 22 22 22 22 2 7-o775M'n 75 Cub. In. g. mill'g. 25-970 25-970 25-970 25-970 Water per ill one onb. Surface of channel. a (( Bottom at bridge, gal. — 1 o42.i cub. in. foot of Wiiter. The discharge of sediment is as follows : At low water, 78* cub ft. per wc. 73-5 or cub. yds. per 24 h., 23.5200 • >,) 47 - 360 I 16-200 25-970 Surface nt'nli To prevent further encroiu'hinents of tlie river, many yonrs ago, works were undertakeii for tlir |»n»tec'tion of the hunk in front of the city. These proved sueeeMsfnl. They eonsisted of a niunher of uioin.s built out from sliore, for a >\un't distance, and formin'' an acute anirle with the current. At each of these itroins the current was sli'-litlv ihflected. and' thu!* gradually forced to follow the hend of the shore. ' From wii.it could he seen of these old works, they appeared to be formed of lieavy jiiles driven near the foot of the slope of bank, tho space behind heini: fill.-d with stone and brush ; they were, however, so completely embedded in the >and, that it was impossible to see exactly liow thiy were construeted. This form of protection In' groins had been considered with some favour ))y the chief iiiiiineer ; l>ut \vh«n it was decided to force the current to the east bank it was abandoned ;ind another plan adopted aud finally e:irried out. This comprised the building of two principal dykes: one to act in turniiij;- the ehannel, causing; it to cross from the Kansas shore to the Missouri side; there to follow the east bank, and in a striii«>ht course, to pass through the draw-span of the bridge. The second to act as a shore protection on the Kansas side, for a short distance above the bridgj. When these dykes were designed it was assumed that undermining would t:ike phice : and they were proportioned in a manner which was considered would give them sufheient toniicity to hold together, while they conformed to any slope which might be caused by undermining, and without much risk of being overturned. For this reason they were given a wid*; base, a sloping face and a top load of stone i)laccd so that its centre of gravity was thrown as far back as possible. The base was made (JO ft. ; the face sloping back so as to give a width of from 24 ft. to 80 ft. on top. The back was carried up vertically. The heights varied : in deepest water the height to top of the brush was 25 it. The depth of channel at low water is taken at 20-ft. Bed rock was found at a depth of about 45 ft. below low water ; upon the bed rock there was a bed of boulders of 5 ft. in thickness; and on top of the boulders^ a stratum of clay also of 5 ft. Scour would not take place below tlie top of the clay. The scour would therefore be restricted to a depth of 15 fr. below the bottom of the channel. When the brush was placed in water less than 20-ft. in depth, and sunk nearly to the bottom, it was considered that scour would take place during the process of sinking; and that the sand would be washed out to, probably, the full depth of the channel. These assumptions were based u|)on the results of experiments made on a small scale. Two sketches shewing cross sections of the dykes are hereto attached : — one shewing the position of the dyke, as built and placed upon the bottom without scour, the other shewing the position which the dyke was assumed to take, under a scour of about 15 ft. and which it did, eventually, in most cases, take. The work upon the dyk<'s was commenced Sept. 27, 1871, the stau'c of river beinu onliuirv low water These assumntions were b.Tsed imnn thn roanUc feet from the hnUs anctnliiii,' to tlic IciiL'th <>t' the tree. Tha looso brail. Iu> wcrt; jdac'tl aiiKMii; the tops. :iii dyke was carried across the steamb(»at channel, the sand bar island, ;ind the shallow channel beyond, and termintited on a sand bar with L' feet of w.iUt oh the east side ol' this second channel. 'ill.' ste niboat channel here is o^A) ft. in width with a greatest depth of 20 fi. and cnrrent of a little le>s than ll»ur miles per hour, Hde a mole was built in the same manner as the dykes, to form a ■ finish to the end of the dyke. It was not considered advisable at this time to extend the d\ke any fariher. and it was detern.ined to await the eflect of the next flood, and mark the result. The t .tal length of this ilyke is LMOO feet. During the building of this dyke across the steamboat eliannel. the area of the water way was steadily contr i-ted ; and scour took place in proportion to this contiaetion, Tlu' bottom (.f the channel was, in this way, scoured to a depth of 25 leet below water. The eastern side of the channel was also scoured IVom the same cause, to such an extent ih.it the greater part oi' the l(.wer end oi" the sand bar island was cut away, as the he.id of the dyke ai»proaclied. About the time when this dyke had been built as l';ir as the island tlie change in the channel, previously mentioned as having been cau,«ed by dyke No. 3, took phice, and at once ri'lleved the pressure upon dyke No. 4, the flow through this channel being now almost stopped, by being turned, at tlie head of the I.^Lmd, into the centre of the river. In continuing the dyke across the second channel there was much less dilhculty in i)lacing the brush. A few piles had been driven with intention of forming a temporary breakwater at Xo. 7 : this now was rendered unnecessary, and work upon it was discontinued. Work upon dyke No. 4 w;is completed Feb. IC, 1S72. The works of " protection '' were also commenced, on the Kansas slioit'. at the same time as the work above described. These consisted of dykes Xos, 5 and 0. No. 5 was merely a small dyke plnced at a jxiint 1300 feet above the bridge, to check scour which was found to be taking place at the time of commencement o!" V(!. <; No. ti W eaveis Dyke w IS cimimenced on the shore at a point about nine hundred feet above the bridge line ; and ])uilt for a distance of some nine hundred (900) feet ; running dowmvards and outwards th and striking the current at a more acute iingle than in No. 4. The manner in which tlii'^ dvke \v i- eonstnicte e case o fdvki ' IS exact! On approaohing dyko Xo. 5, nn.l wlion witliiu ubont 500 fcvt, it turned su.ldonly to the left ; ami euiviiitr on a ra.liiis ,,f al.oiit ^OO feet, lor u linlf circle, reversed .sud«lon!y, and eiirviny to the rij-ht on ii radius of 700 feet and deserihin- and arc uf I'JO dei:r»'»"s, it piisHt-d, on a 8traij,'ht course (.1" ahout 500 feet, through ilu' sp<.t .-hosen for the location of the draw span. The channel followed (In- sanie curves, with ehanue oidy caused bv the wearing away of [hv cast bar, until the. bivakin- up and running out of the ice on 21st Prhruary, 1S72. The works were c inpli'tt-d not too soon ; the last .stone being placed CD dyke No. (J on the 17th of same month. Up to this dat" no real injury w h done to the works of i»roteetion. At dyke No. (I, however, from the constant .scouring for a period of two months, the brush h;id lieen undcrnnned along the exposed face and had settled on that side, at [)laces, to amount of 25 feet ; the rear line of the dyke being but little; disturbed. The form of the ehaiuiel immediately b.'fore the " breakup " of the river is shewn upon the general maj) by a heavy dotted blue line. The ice in the neighborhood ef St. JcKseph broke up February 21;^ • and on the 23rd it came down IVom above, with a rush, causin*'- a sudden ri.se in the river to level- of 80. For the few hours at which it remained at this stage, the flow eonsi.sted of a succession of gor<>es, for- ming and breaking away. The river foamed and hissed. The whole water-way was filled with broken ice grinding along the bottom, and pitching and tossing on the surface. The water itself was not to be seen, as the ma.ss of broken lee. and diift r(»lled by ; fbrrest trees and inas.ses of brush, wreckage of all sorts, whirling around, and forced into the air by the upward action of the heaving ice. A gorge had broken above. On tlie2lfh a gorge occurred, com- mencing on the east side of the ehannel. a short distance below the line of dyke No. 4. The channel below this point was very crooked, and ''etarded the escape of the gorge. The river hurled it.self, with great force, against dyke No. 6 ; and washed along its face, increasing the undermining which had been already done. In a few hoars the whole face of the dyke had been undermined ; the "hannel having scoured out to a depth of thirfcy-four feet. The dvke " turneed to 84. This relief was caused by the cutting through, by the flood, of a bend which had occasioned the jamming of the ice and drift. At the end of April the channel liad a^.suined a tolerably direct course ; and followed wii it was nearly a central course between the lower end having been curried away ; and deposited near dyke No. 4. Ijiuler thi! ('ircMnii>tan('i'^ tluii rxi>ti!'ir, it did not ipiwjar nHtatt■ wu.-> di.>*eliari;ed in May. 1^73. No work was done on tlit dykes during' tliese nM.iitli- : antl the channel rontinued to run uh»nu the Missouri bank. The ehun^ze.s whieh \v«re efleetid in tiu; cha-inel l.y the action of the current, durinj,^ the eonstruetion of the dykes, and up to date. Septeniher iJOth, IS72, involved the ninov;'' of -m i-nonnuns (juanlitv of sand; and also the placintr of a <|uantity e(|ual tofi-Otlis of thut reuioved. It is natuial to suppose that a por'ic.n of tliis dep »sit was formed with material removed tr(»m other ])arts of the woik above; what proportion it is iinpnssible to estimate. lii uioved J'rosn east sand bar. Cub \ih. 3,050.000 i)epoj(ited on west sand bar. 1,500,000 " Island shoul 9(»0,(IOO Total deposited in bars. 2,400, OOO 'I he total cost of dykes was S5S,055. Cost i>er cubic yard - * 1 " ■ '^'* -1.92 cents, j'or material removed. It is a usatter of regret to the wri' r ..f these notes, that he i.'j unable to give, from i)ersonal experience, any later information about the work which they describe. He haa never visited St. Joseph since the year 1873. Inforniation has been received, however, iu reply to letters written to persons, who>e statements can be depended upon. From these it appears: that the low water channel has continued to flow along the ea.st bank of the river; that damage had been done to this bank, at a shoit distance above the bridue, at a point where no rip-rap had been placed, and extendini; down to the briduv, causing the small shore abutment to slide into the river; that this was stopped by the placing of quantities of rock, by the K. C. St. Joseph and 0. B. U.K. company, and a new pier was j)ut in ; that a large portion of the town I'ront had to be held up by heavy stone dykes, buttressing the shore ; it has since been made secur(! by a second track of the railway ; the material of which was mostly rock. From the above inforuntion it would njipear, that the fall of the shore abutment v\as caused by want in c ire in not protecting the bank above the l)ridge works. It would also prove that the rjvcr has continued to run along the east bank ; no reference being made to any injury having been done on the Kansas side of the river. Tlie channel also is said to have run constantly through the dr iw gpau, up to the present, a peri^u of fourteen years. The dykes, therefore, seem to have accomplished the end for which they were designed. The protection of the easjt bank, at the time when these river works were completed, was a thing to be considered. It does not appear to have received attention, Uiitil serious injury had been done ; and the old works of protection of the city front had proved insufficient to withstand the continual wear, and the more trequently repeated attacks of the river. The channel ai.-o is said to have run constantlv through the dr.iw " This Act also provides that the bridge, at the optiou (.f the corpo- "rntion bnildin- the .ame, may be built as a ,lmubrid-e, with a pivot "or other form ofdniw, or with unbroken eoj.tinuous t^jans; provided " that if the j^ame shall be made ..f unbn.k,,n eontinuous spans, it shall " not bo of less elevation in any ease tluin tifty ( 50) feet above extreme '• high-water mark, nor shall the spans of said bridge be less than three " hundred and Hfty {1^) \Wt. in knuth. That if a brid-e shall be '' built under this A,t, as a drawbridge, the same shall be constructed "as a pivot dn.wl.iidge. with a .Iraw over the main chann-l at an I' accessible and navioable i.oint; :u.d with spans of not less than one " hundred and sixty (160) feet in lenuth in the clear on ei.ch side of the y^ central or pivot pier of the draw, and the next adjoining spans to the ''draw shall not be less than two hundred and fifty (250) feet, and II said spans shall not be less th;.n thirt3; (^0) above low water mark " and not less than ten feet above high Wiiter mark.' In selecting a location for the bridge much scope was not allowed to the engineei-, as the terms of his instructions required that the bridge be placed within the limits of the corporation of the city of St. Joseph. These restrictions gave a distance nf on]y about 2i miles, in which to select the best location for the bridge More extensive surveys were, however, ref|uired in order to obtain a knowledge of the river, with a view to controlling its movement, and to compel it to follow a permanent course through tlie bridge. Within the above described limits, soundings, and borings to rock, were made upon several trial lines, and finalFy a location was made, on the cast side of the city, within the corporation boundary, and at a point where, in the opinion of the chief engineer, a bridge could be construct- ed more economically than at any other point within the fixed litoits, and where it was considered that the natural formation of the river offered greater facilities than at any other point in the neighborhood or within some miles. The iocatiou of the bridge was fixed at this point for the following reasons : 1st. That the channel, both at high or low water, was more narrow than at any other point. 2nd. That the bed rock was found at a less depth than elsewhere; and in very regular form, varying from 45-f't. to 48-ft. below ordinary water. 3rd. That the permanency of the banks was greater than at any other point embraced in that portion of the river surveyed in connection with this work. 4th. That at this point the channel had, for a great many years, followed the same course, hugging the east bank, and unaffected by the many changes taking place in the stretch of the river above. The width of channel at the place chosen for the bridge, vras, at ordinary high water, only 1500 ft, and at ordinary low water, 350 ft. ', the depth ac low water being from 15-ft. to 20-ft. the Kansas bunk, rock eiups our at IJeluioiiL imd Watliuna. Tlie clay l-aiiks, when excavated and exposed to the weather, stand for a h)ug time with little chjwige ; this was in,st:inced in 8t. Joseph, in 1871-73, where many sitreets were trnided down to a depth of 30 to 40 feet, while the lott«, with lious'eH built upon them, were left .standing, the only means of access to and from the street, being by stairways placed in very nearly vertical position in front of each house. The nature of these clay bluffs is such that they are affected but slowly by the action of the flood, except in cases where undermining is caused by the washing of sand and gravel deposits. In such cases, large slides occur at intervals. The current after striking at tiie foot oF these solid banks, at an acute angle, is deflected gradually, and after following, for some distance, the bank is turned from it, and directed into a counse tending towards the opposite side of the valley. The " bottoms," or lands situated between the high sides of this val- ley, are generally formed of sandy alluvial deposit, timbered in part with heavy growth of cotton wood and other trees. In other parts, the later formation of the deposit is indicated by the smaller growth or timber, which gradually diminishes in size, until upon bars of recent formation a short growth of brush, only, is found. In the low ground, however, in fiont of the eastern portion of the city, and for some dis. tance downwards, along the Missouri shore, the bank is composed of the tougliest sort of clay, "gumbo," as called in western language. This stands almost vertically where washed by the current, and wears away but slowly. In sinking pier No. 1 to bed rock, at the foot of this bank, sand was struck at a depth of 20 feet below low water, and was found to extend to bed rock, forming a stratum of 25 feet in thickness. This accounts for the subsiding of portions of this bank, which occurred during the progress of the work. The great changes in the course of the river occur at times of flood Cut-offs occur also at times, caused by the wearing of the neck of points formed by the bends of the river. In these cases the old channel re- mains in form of a " horse-shoe lake," the ends becoming silted up by wash from the new channel. The frequency with which these horse-shoe lakes are found in follow- ing the course of the river demonstrates plainly the changes which have taken place, and which are to be expected to occur in future. Through these bottoms, at high water, the river cuts its way, vary- ing in width from 1500 to 5500 feet, alternating from bluff" to bluff", on opposite sides of the river, describing in its course a succession of curves and reverse curves ; removing sand bars, and placing them in new posi. tions, rolling them (as it were) down stream, carrying destruction to any portion of the I ottom lands where it strikes with force, and at points where it washes the base or face of hard clay banks wearing them slowly away ; and at times underminino- them and pmisiiKr aWA^a of large dimensioni. In order to ivconl the lunuy elian«;e.s lakinj; place upon the river uotes were taken every month and full surveys were made after all great changes. These notes were plotted upon the original map, in pencil and tracings made and fyled away, liy aj»pl}ing any one of these trac- ings ujon the original map, the change is distinctly seen; in the same way, the tracing for any month can he comjKired with that for any other month, and the various chang«^s noted. All these different surveys, if plotted on the oviginai map in a jiermanent manner, would form such confusion of lines and colours, th.it the result would be unintellii.'ible. The material found in the bed of the river where borings were made; generally consisted of sand, with layers and balls of clay, and some quicksand ; and subse(jue!itly in sinking the piers of the bridge, an oppor, tunity was afforded for veiifying, by sight, the inhjrmation which had been obtained by boring. In most cases a deposit of bouliers, si^alJ stones, and gravel was found immediately on top of bed rock. In one case, ot a depth of 34 feet below the river bottom, the remain.'^ of brickwork, and also a bar of railroad V iron were found, provino- that scour had taken place to that depth. The fall in the water surface of the river was established by cjjreful levels taken at different stages. At stage of 86, in a distance of 4-70 miles, the fall was found to be 4-37 feet, or 0-93 feet per mile, at low water 0-80 feet per mile. During the running of the ice, and at time of highest water, no satisfactory levels could be obtained. The chanties were .so rapid between the level of 86 and 92, that it was found impos. sible to get accurate results. The rate of current, as found by experiments with floats at different stages of the river, varied from 2^ miles to 3| miles per hour, at sta^e of 92. The calculated rate of current at stage of 100-0 is 4*^ miles per hour. At times of flood, in places, the current is greatly increased by f'or- ges breaking loose ; so much so that steamers sometimes find it difficult to stem the stream in getting around the bends. The following table shows the sectional area, velocity and discharge at several stages of the river. Table of Discharge. Stago of Sectional Water. 1 Area. 78 80 86 92 100 Gorge. Sq. feet. 5 3.") 5 6205 1 ;!09rj 21975 ( 33175 t 7,200 Fall. Per foot. P. mile Feet. ,0U01515 ,0001649 .OOf)176I .00()J809 .0001860 Feet. 0-80 0-87 0-93 0-96 0-98 Velocity. j _^^ jDischarge I per sec. F. p. see. M. p.H. cub. ft. 3-65 3-94 3-81 5 • 50 6-36 88 2-49 61 > 60 (O 34 68 74 19545 24448 49892 120863 210993 7200 } Remarks By float. Calculation, By float. By float. 'I ail Calculation, 47 ;^6o •21 I6U 40 fJOO 43 400 15' 7 • -50 15-25 7 • 700 1 »43 « xC' ly-'.MMt •J5-:{5o :{5-i>0( •070 ■!t70 .Siirtuce <>| cliuiiiiel. l.'5-y70 Bottuiii at l)ii(Jjr,', l<»H-;Uo=j27-0775Arn; Water per ^^1. ..]«4a« culi in /.,.4_0 J'J,,5 tub. III. Ill one ciil). foot of wutur. The discharj.^0 of sedinient is as follows : At low water, 78- cub It. per sec. 735 ur cub. yds. j)er 24 h '>T)'>00 " »"g«' " 100- " «' 820-4;} - - 2025376 Froui the above fi-ures it is uot difficult to account for the forumtioD of bars in slack water, independent of the shiftini,' of the sand. The bridge, as well as the river works, were desiuned by Col. E. D Mason, engineer in chief, and were carried out under his supervision * ^ The survey was commenced February 1st, 1871, and completed 15th of March tbllowiny:. Upon the accompanying map are shewn the lines of the centres of the low water channels, as located after all great changes. The exact form of the channel and bars, immediately before the com mencement of the work (8ept. 27th, 1871), is distini-uished by red shading of the water line, while the changes eftocted by these works are shewn by the blue shading of the general map which was made from surveys in September and October_, 1872. Until the location of the bridge had been made, the chief en-ineer was unable to decide definitely upon the plan for controlling the^iver above the bridjje. To this subject he gave much of his time; watehin- the workin- of the river during the high water; and making experiments upon °the sandbars as H^m as they began to appear, upon the subsidiix- of the river. On small water courses he built dykes, formed of the ^m alle^t brush loaded with sand ; and noted minutely the effects produced by the current. In this manner lie succeeded in turning the miniature rivers, and in making them run as he willed. Encouraged by his success in these experiments, he determined to apply the same means in undertaking to divert the existing channel from the course which it then followed, along the Kansas shore ; and to force it, in course of time, to run along the Eastern shore, and follow the hioh water bmk in front of the city of St. John, and thus secure a permanent and direct approach to the draw span, as located. Ill adopting this course be was attempting only to force the river to run in an old, natural channel which had been deserted by the river and filled in with sand. Much damage had been done, in previous years, along the fronta-e of the city, by floods washing away the clay bank ; and tl!" 'ty suffered to great extent in loss of valuable buildings. In fact the principal business part of the city was either destroyed, or liable to be destroyed at any time of high wat^^r. ' 'I'h.-M. assui..|.tiui..s were l.a>iHl ..|,.,i, tin- ivsult.-- of oxp.-rimonls made oil a Hnv\\\ scnie. Two Hkot.'hes shewing cross section^of tliu dykes are hereto attached : —one shewing the position of the ,lyko, as huilt and placed upon the bottom without scour, the ..tb.r shewing the p..sition whiclj the dyke was :.ssunied to take, under a scour of i.hout 15 ft. and which it did, eventually, in most cases, take. The work iipmi the dykes was eommenccd Sept. 27, 1871 the stage of river being itrdin iry low water. The position ul- the different dykes is shewn upon the m:.p, numbered m order in which they were eonnnenccl ; No. 4 was designed to turn the chann.'l. Before commencing to build this dyke it was thought expedient to n-.luce the current in the eh nnel, across which this dyke was to be built. lA.r this purpose dams were built across two small channels ; thus connecting two dry sand bars with the main shore, aod excluding a large flow of water. From the head of the outer of these b .rs, a dyke,' No. 3, waa commenced and built downwards and slightly outwards ; and, as the work progressed, slowly .losing the upper end of the steamboat channel, across which the main dyke. No. 4, was at the same time beiu was iiu-ivly a sumW .lykc placvl at a |M.ii.t l.ilH) f.-.-t above the bridur, t„ durk scour wind, was fouiMJ to 1... takii.-. plact- »t the time of t'oiiiiiRiuM'iiic'iit ,,| \o (I No. «. " Wfuvfis l)_y'ko"was .- .Him.Mic.Ml ...i thr shmv at a point about riiiio hu.Mho.l f.vt abow the bii-l-r linr ; aii.l built for a distaiK'e otsuuj.Miinebuml.vcl (tUHhr.'.l; lunnin- downwar.N an.l uutwanls, and .striking the eunviit at a more acute ;inole than in the ease uf.l^ke No. 4. The manmr in whieh this